In July, on the heels of his reelection as Prime Minister, Edi Rama published a “black list” on his Facebook account, containing the names of 101 public servants and officials accused of “negative behvaior” toward Albanian citizens. Denunciation by the opposition and civil rights organizations was swift, while Prime Minister Rama defended his public accusations in further Facebook posts:
I advise the “snowflakes” and all the drunkards from the political and media village that have come out today to bewail the democracy at risk to save their energy, because they haven’t seen or heard anything yet!
The online co-governance platform with common people FOR THE ALBANIA THAT WE LOVE, will be the hell for anyone who is paid by the state and abuses common people, not only by putting their hands in their pockets but also by behaving unethically toward them. And it will not be a hell of digital gossip by digital citizens that don’t show their identity, but it will be the hell of a large coalition against the “baking-tray-ers” [tepsixhi], boors, and parasites that are paid by our taxes and without an inch of shame are abusive every time they encounter a common person with his problems.
Now that the “hell” of the “co-governance platform” has come online, and the Prime Minister has fired scores of other public officials live on Facebook, it is perhaps instructive to see what happened to some of those initially denounced on the “black list” of July 13.
No. 62 on Rama’s list was Bruna Mersini, the former Director of the Vlora Hospital. Mersini was among the directors later fired summarily by Rama because “unacceptable management.” In October, Mersini was nominated deputy mayor in Vlora, a municipality held by the Socialist Party.
Ani Dermishi was no. 28 on Rama’s list, the director of the local Asset Registry in Durrës, all of which were fired by Rama live on Facebook late July. According to newspaper Panorama, Dermishi has now found refuge as the new director of the Albanian railways, in which large new EU investments are expected. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Justice has encountered serious problems in finding qualified replacement for all the Asset Registry directors fired by Rama.
Different from what Prime Minister Edi Rama wants the Albanian population to believe, his government is not all interested in removing those who “abuse” citizens from government functions. Instead, it is just another way to move some personnel around, without actually knowing where they end up.
